What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?: Brioche Au Chocolate

The smell of fresh pastries baking the oven.... not such a bad way to start a Saturday morning.  This week's winning recipe here at the Burns Abode is 

Brioche Au Chocolate 

from the glorious Flour Cookbook.  

Smeary chocolate-faces and smiles of delight.... also not a bad start to a Saturday.

Just a quick note about the cookbook, Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe.  Seriously.... you should buy this book.  I am a terrible.... abysmal really... baker and this book magically turns me into a fancy French pastry chef.  Joann Chang writes her recipes like she's talking to you... and by 'you' I mean me...and by 'me' I mean that at the very moment in the recipe when I start to look at my bowl of ingredients and start to worry that I've done something wrong she writes something like "At this point your dough will look shaggy and just plain questionable... don't worry... keep mixing... it will get shiny and smooth soon!"  Basically I have a total chef-crush on her.  

So here it goes!  I suggest you read through all the recipes so you can work out how long it will take you and when to begin the process so that you can have these delicious little suckers for breakfast instead of 9pm on a Thursday.  I find that this is good advice with any baking recipe... keeps you from standing in your kitchen and yelling "Now chill for TWO HOURS?! Are you kidding me?!" shaking your fist at the sky.....(not that that has ever happened to me..) 

Brioche au Chocolat
from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe
makes 10 pastries

1/2 recipe Basic Brioche dough (recipe follows)
1 recipe Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
4 oz (114g) bittersweet chocolate (62 to 70 percent cacao), chopped, or bittersweet chocolate chips (just under 2/3 cup).
1 egg

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a floured work surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 20 inches by 10 inches and 1/4 inch thick. It will have the consistency of cold, damp Play-Doh and should be fairly easy to roll. Position the rectangle so a long side is facing you. Spread the pastry cream evenly over the bottom half (a 20 by 5 inch section) of the rectangle. Fold the top half of the rectangle completely over the bottom half, then press down gently so the halves are smooshed together.

Use a bench scraper of a chef’s knife to cut the filled dough into 10 pieces, each about 2 inches wide; each piece will be about 2 by 5 inches. (At this point, the unbaked pastries can be tightly wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 1 week. When ready to bake, thaw them, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, then proceed as directed.)

Carefully transfer the brioche to the prepared baking sheet. Cover the pastries lightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to proof for about 2 hours, or until the dough is puffy, pillowy, and soft. Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg until blended. Gently brush the tops of the pastries with the beaten egg.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes. The pastries tend to bake into one another in the oven, so break apart into 10 pieces. The pastries are best served warm or within 4 hours of baking. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, and then warmed in a 300-degree-F oven for 5 minutes before serving.

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Basic Brioche
from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe

*Makes 2 loaves
Note: Do not halve this recipe. There won’t be enough dough to engage the dough hook of your mixer, and the dough won’t get the workout it needs to become a light, fluffy bread. Don’t worry about having too much: Both the dough and the baked loaves freeze well, and having a freezer filled with brioche is never a bad thing.

2 1/4 cups (315 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups (340 grams) bread flour
1 1/2 packages (3 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast, or 1 ounce (28 grams) fresh cake yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (82 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (120 grams) cold water
6 eggs
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons (2 3/4 sticks/310 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all of the ingredients have come together. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all of the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.

On low speed, add the butter one piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Then, continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all of the butter to be mixed thoroughly into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.

Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat for another 15 minutes, or until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually will turn smooth and silky. Then, turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it: it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in one piece.

Place the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. At this point, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

To make two brioche loaves, line the bottom and sides of two 9 by 5 inch loaf pans with parchment, or butter the pans liberally. Divide the dough in half and press each piece into about a 9-inch square. The dough will feel like cold, clammy Play-Doh. Facing the square, fold down the top one-third toward yo, and then fold up the bottom one-third, as if folding a letter. Press to join these layers. Turn the folded dough over and place it, seam-side down in one of the prepared pans. Repeat with the second piece of dough, placing it in the second prepared pan.

Cover the loaves lightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to proof for about 4 to 5 hours, or until the loaves have nearly doubled in size. They should have risen to the rim of the pan and be rounded on top. When you poke at the dough, it should feel soft, pillowy and light, as if it’s filled with air – because it is! At this point, the texture of the loaves always reminds me a bit of touching a water balloon.

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg until blended. Gently brush the tops of the loaves with the beaten egg.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the tops and sides of the loaves are completely golden brown. Let cool in the pans on wire racks for 30 minutes, then turn the loaves out of the pans and continue to cool on the racks.

The bread can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days (if it is older than 3 days, try toasting int) or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

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Pastry Creamfrom Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe

1 1/4 cups (300g) milk
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/4 cup (30g) cake flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, scald the milk over medium-high heat (bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan, but the milk is not boiling). While the milk is heating, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. (Mixing the flour with the sugar will prevent the flour from clumping when you add it to the egg yolks.) In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until blended, then slowly whisk in the flour mixture. The mixture will be thick and pasty.

Remove the milk from the heat and slowly add it to the egg-flour mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly. When all of the milk has been incorporated, return the contents of the bowl to the saucepan and place over medium heat. Whisk continuously and vigorously for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. At first, the mixture will be very frothy and liquid; as it cooks longer, it will slowly start to thicken until the frothy bubbles disappear and it becomes more viscous. Once it thickens, stop whisking every few seconds to see if the mixture has come to a boil. If it has not, keep whisking vigorously. As soon as you see it bubbling, immediately go back to whisking for just 10 seconds, and then remove the pan from the heat. Boiling the mixture will thicken it and cook out the flour taste, but if you let it boil for longer than 10 seconds, the mixture can become grainy.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small heat-proof bowl. Stir in the vanilla, then cover with plastic wrap, placing it directly on the surface of the cream. This will prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until cold, or up to 3 days.

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Crazy Lady finds Preschool. News at 11.

This preschool quest tale has a happy ending... but I think it's only fitting that I let you delve into my crazy a little before it does.

My search for a preschool for Randy.... which I thought would be easy peasy... turned into a crazy frenzy that I had not prepared myself for. Suddenly I became the crazy mom that I remember touring with as a Director.... only (much to the chagrin of the poor poor directors) I had inside trader information and my questions were terrifying......

"I noticed that child went into this empty classroom from outside to use the bathroom while the teacher waited at the door to the playground. Is she still in ratio outside?  Is that standard procedure?" ( I actually heard her gulp)
"I see that the posted lesson plan has 'animal hospital' in dramatic play but it has babies in washtubs... do the centers change on Thursdays?" (It was Wednesday.. I'm an a-hole)
"This art looks great. (gesturing to wall)  I see that the date of these ones say March on them...is the art center open daily?  "
"When this teacher is in the kitchen getting the snack does another teacher step into the classroom to maintain the ratio?" (no... the answer was clearly no.)

These aren't even the worst of my questions.  I'm a jerk.

 I learned three things touring the first six preschools we visited:
1. I should be proud of what I did as a Director. There was drama and craziness... but hell... put any 20 women under the same roof and what can you expect? We were so VERY far above them ALL in standards that it made my head spin.  It made me proud of the work we all did there. The love, professionalism and dedication that flowed so freely and easily. (okay... so the next logical question you are asking is why aren't you just taking him there... that's a long story... involving my stubbornness and a lady with the most offensive perfume I've ever smelled... but that's another story)
2.  I had to calm the hell down on these tours.  There is absolutely no reason to make these women sweat.  I needed to just smile and cross them the frig off my list.  
3.  I needed to check myself before I wrecked myself.... and our bank account.  I began my search with a budget of $300 a month MAX for two days a week (and man that was a bitch to budget) and at the climax of my mentalness was considering a preschool that offered cooking classes, a yoga instructor, three languages, intensive classical music immersion and a whole myriad of craziness for the low low value price of $615 a month.  What? Wait, what?!

Soooo... long story short I actually used my smahts for good instead of evil and remembered what the heck preschool is actually for.  Preschool is about making my kiddo the most prepared person possible to kick ass in his entire future of school.... while learning a perfect flan is a wonderful skill what he really needs to be able to do is the following:

-Sit still... this may be the most difficult.
-Know when to talk and when to listen.
-Be kind... really kind to everyone.  Understand how his actions affect others and give a crap about it.
-Keep him proud of his glorious love of exploration and help him learn to focus it.  
-Introduce him to a bunch of different people from different backgrounds... in an environment where they are encouraged to embrace each other for exactly who they are.  
-Perfect his 'taking turns' skills... because in these here parts toys are either his or used to be his and therefore he has first dibs because Sammy a. moves slower and b. is genuinely happy to watch Randy play with all his stuff.  See my problem?
-Did I already say sit still?
-The date... but this is purely selfish because I never know what the hell day it is.  

Oh.  and keep him safe.... because, well, the fire that wells up in my belly just thinking about that could burn ice cubes. 

All the other stuff.... well.... that's great too!  Every song, every book, every messy mess they let him get filthy playing in... all good.  He wants to know all sorts of everything... he'll soak it all up.  It's 6 hours a week.... I am here the other 162 .  I got the rest of this sh*t covered.  (and btw... he makes a fine flan already)

So I reined myself in and took some really excellent advice and enrolled him in the City of San Marcos preschool program.  It looks clean and fun and full of learning... and he's going to have a flipping blast... and really that's all this Mama gives a crap about.  

So...my baby starts school in less than two weeks.  

3 months to 3 years in a blink.

<insert heart squeezing painfully in my chest here>

Food for the Soul

This week my sous chef and I have been busy bees in the kitchen.  It seems like we have so much going on both right now and on the horizon... all of it buzzing around in my head making me a little bit nutters.  What do I do in times when my head is full?  I cook.... I dust off complicated recipes and spend time inventing dishes sure to produce smiles at the table and full happy bellies.  I do it for my family but I also do it for me.  I find a comfort in a simmering pot of this and a baking dish of that.  Lately I have watched as another little person has been dragging his step stool over to my counter and joining me in this simple pleasure... "Momma... can I be your zoo chef today?"  It's like our version of bellying up to the bar.  We laugh and joke and have a grand old time while we prep and cook. 

It makes me get that familiar feeling in the back of my throat as I watch him sifting and mixing.  I have visions.... of him far from me with a pot of something delicious on the stove filling his apartment with smells from home... of us in the kitchen over fifty Thanksgivings chopping and laughing and making as a big a mess as we do these days.  It's a simple thing we do... in days filled with the rigors of being a two year old but I think it might be my very favorite.  I think it might be the most important.

Now... if I could get him to actually eat half the things he prepares we'd be in business. 

This Week's Menu So far:
 Monday: Chicken Piccata with Barley Rissotto
Tuesday: Port Marinated Steak Tips, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Tomatoes Provencal
Wednesday: Carnitas Tacos with pickled red cabbage slaw